English gives Blenheim fair shake
On the campaign trail
OPINION: The shadow of a fuel crisis may hang over the final week of the election campaign, but out on the road it’s all about supermarkets, schools and a final frenetic push to shake as many hands as possible.
On the campaign trail in Blenheim yesterday, National leader Bill English was in a race to cover as much ground as possible and his day went like this: a tractor factory, a deli, a supermarket walkabout, a school, a chocolate factory and another supermarket.
Why? Because there are voters there, and English seems to be on a mission to shake 4.6 million hands between now and Saturday when the country goes to the polls. It’s that tight that all these handshakes might just make the difference.
But, where there are people there is always the potential for things to go pear shaped. As they did at BV Gourmet in downtown Blenheim, where former MP Graham Thorne ran into English and pronounced the country was in the grip of a mood for change.
Then, local Labour candidate Janette Walker gate crashed the coffee stop and accused local National Party officials of pulling down her signs so English didn’t have to see them.
Water off a duck’s back to English who shook Walker’s hand before swiftly moving on. That made Walker a rare exception to English’s rule that where there are hands to shake, there are votes to be had. English didn’t bother to give Walker his pitch - ‘‘I hope I’ve got your support on Saturday’’ - admitting later he reckoned her mind was already made up.
At Renwick’s Tractor Repairs and Spares, meanwhile, English tried his pitch on worker Mike Street - but Street admitted that, like a lot of Kiwis, he was still making his mind up.
There are ‘‘issues’’ in Blenheim, Street told English - water, foreign land sales, take your pick. He thinks water bottlers should be taxed, but not farmers, for instance. So it’s complicated. But as far as Street was concerned it was an oldfashioned toss up between Labour and National at this point. He doesn’t want the next government hostage to a minor party coalition ally.
That, at least, would be music to English’s ears. His campaign stops on Blenheim have hammered many of the familiar themes. But in the dying days of this campaign, there is a harder edge. Risk, uncertainty, taxes, that $11 billion ‘‘hole’’ and industrial unrest versus stability, strength, success - that’s what this election is all about, insists English.
It’s a message he repeats at a business lunch with Marlborough Chamber of Commerce. And he also urges them to cut out the middle man, a warning he later repeats to media. There is a clear choice this election, National or Labour. Don’t throw your vote away on anyone else.
This is as close as English will come to asking voters to give National the power to govern alone.
It’s a bold call, especially from a thirdterm government in which the greatest risk is being seen as arrogant and complacent after nine years in power.
But it’s neck and neck now. And National needs every vote. Even if it means shaking 4.6 million hands.
Risk, uncertainty ... versus stability, strength, success that's what this election is all about, insists English.